


A tiger in Rabbit's skin.

by SillyNonnyFicsAreForFandoms



Category: DanPlan, actuallyoddplan
Genre: Anxiety, Complete, Don't worry it's only prevalent in the second half, Established Relationship, Everyone thinks Hosuh's quirkless, Fighting, Fire, General studies Daniel Hosuh and Anne, Hero course Stephen Jay and Joe, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied Daniel/Anne but not really established within the fic, It's for plot reasons I swear, M/M, Mild Swearing, Minor Assault, No Drama, No beta we die like the men Kirishima would want us to be, Nothing is too graphic but lots of pain, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Passing Out, Social Commentary on the world of My Hero Academia, Tournament Arc, Worldbuilding, Worried boyfriends, ask to tag, bnha au, innuendos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22846606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SillyNonnyFicsAreForFandoms/pseuds/SillyNonnyFicsAreForFandoms
Summary: No one ever believed Hosuh when he said he had a quirk. Not even his boyfriend, Stephen, really believed it since Hosuh had absolutely no desire to be a hero whatsoever. But now, in the second round of the sport's festival's tournament bracket, there was one rule which Hosuh knew by heart.If you have to fight, you fight to win.
Relationships: Hosuh Lee/Stephen Ng, Joseph Catalanello/Jay Ko
Comments: 21
Kudos: 213





	1. The rabbit kicks out

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are again! This is that BNHA fic/crossover/AU I promised! This is chapter one of eight and it will only be covering the tournament part of the sport's festival, from the second round onward due to time and my lack of energy in the BNHA fandom. If there's something you guys wanna see in this, please let me know! I'll be explaining the quirks as we go but the list as they're revealed will always be in the endnotes. Thank you very much for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Everyone thought that Hosuh had no quirk. A general studies student who often spent his free time with three hero class kids, named Joe, Stephen, and Jay, and two other general studies students who hoped to make it into the hero class one day. Anne and Daniel. He was often quoted as a quirkless student, but he always looked confused whenever someone brought it up. Daniel and Stephen had known him since before they all attended UA high, but neither of them knew what his quirk was. He said he used it all the time, but they never understood what he meant by that.

Each of his closest friends had quirks and used them often, even if they weren’t that useful or impractical, but no one understood why he didn’t. 

What was even crazier to those who didn’t know him well was that he was in the second round of the Sports festival’s tournament bracket. He’d beaten the first two rounds easily with his team skills and collaborative efforts, no one was surprised about that. They all knew Hosuh could get along with just about anyone and everyone regardless of who they were if they looked at his friend group. Unfortunately, that same friend group also made it into the second round of fights, and he was slated to fight Anne as the first fight of the second round. 

He was sitting in practice room A, Joe, Dan and Stephen sitting at the table with him. Joe was incredibly nervous, his foot bouncing and fingers tapping against the table loudly. Stephen didn’t seem too worried about his next fight, which was currently being decided on now, and Dan was taking notes about possible outcomes of their fights.

“Joe, it’s gonna be okay,” Hosuh attempted to console his friend, only for him to grip at his short curls and jolt, knees hitting the bottom of the table as his freckled face flushed.

“No, it’s not! Jay’s going to destroy me! You’d seen how ruthless he can be!”

“So just kill him before he gets the chance, simple as that,” Stephen shrugged, staring at the knives he’d created as he practiced his aim, telepathically throwing them at a dartboard he’d set up. The purple aura made him smirk as it sunk in with a dull thud.

“No, no killing,” Dan sighed as Hosuh chuckled at their friend. Even if he didn’t agree with him, he usually found it funny how he could come up with an answer for everything. 

“He’ll kill me, though! My apparitions can’t do anything against his fire! Do you guys even know how the hell his quirk works?!”

“I share a class with him, you class B idiot. He’s not that scary; I’m pretty sure the only one of us who couldn’t beat him is Hosuh!”

“I don’t really want to fight any of you guys. I already have to go against Anne and I’m dreading it.” Hosuh leaned against the table, resting his head against the cool metal. His hair almost blended into it, and it soothed a deep part of him he didn’t quite understand.

“Just don’t touch his fire, Joe. He’s a beast but he’s still human, even if he is a sociopath. He may not care about his own safety or yours all that much, but he respects the rules and his flames have a reach.”

“Stay near the edge and use your, I don’t know what the hell you call those things, just use them to push him back and you won’t have that much of a problem winning.”

Another knife stuck in the dartboard. 

“You and I both know it’s not that easy, Stephen.” Joe mimicked Hosuh’s agonized image, arms reached out over the table and cheek pressed to the table. “I might as well not even fight him, just give in now.”

“No, don’t give in!” Hosuh and Stephen exclaimed, with Hosuh taking over the next bought of encouragement.

“If you fight, you gotta fight until the end. You can do this, Joe. Think of him like your big enemy and your quirked little wiggle monsters are your sword and shield.” 

Joe chuckled, staring at his friend now with a smile, “You mean he’s the monster I have to beat? But then I’ll have to fight you or Anne after.”

“We all know Jay’s the bigger target than either of those two,” A third knife sunk into the dartboard, followed quickly by the forth before they returned above his head, “I can’t believe you’re so worked up about this. Just deal with it.” 

“Not all of us can be lucky enough to have weapon summoning and control, Stephen.” 

“Don’t patronize me, Daniel!”

All four went directly into the dartboard, splitting it in two as they persisted into the wall with Stephen’s rage. 

“Calm down, Stephen, you’re gonna destroy the wall.”

“Shut up, Hosuh!”

There was a knock on the door before the argument could continue, drawing the boys’ attention towards it as it opened. Elias was in the doorway, a small smile on his face as he saw Dan perk up. Just as his younger brother was about to jump out of his chair and rush his brother with a hug, the elder of the two raised his hand to stop them. 

“I’m going to be in charge of walking the contestants for all proceeding rounds to the field, so don’t even think about it. I’m just a guard now. Anyway, Hosuh, they’re ready for you, so c’mon.” 

“Good luck, Hosuh!” His friends exclaimed, waving him goodbye as he stood up and stretched out a little, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he followed Elias towards the field. They didn’t talk as they walked, only leaving Hosuh alone with his thoughts as he formulated a plan against Anne.

He didn’t enjoy fighting. He never did. There was no point in senseless violence, especially in the case of friends, but he did know one thing which had been taught to him since he was born. If you fight, you fight to win. You fight to make it to the end of the winner's bracket, and if you lose? Well, that's okay. But he needed to give it his best. 

Though, with that being said, he absolutely did not want to use his quirk if he could avoid it. Neither of his parents had particularly strong quirks, and one would think he didn't have good control of his own, but that was incorrect. He had better control of his quirk than most people in the world. The only problem, well... When using it, he lost feeling in his body based on the scale of what he was doing, so using it when in a fight meant he could become seriously injured and never even know, only for all the pain to come rushing back once he finished. As well as some other side effects, such as dizziness and the occasional inability to breathe.

Anne's quirk was only enough to blind him, he knew that much from experience. She could create light-based glitters which she often used to blind her opponents, but it was enough that she could get the drop on them. For such a small girl, she was cutthroat. Possibly moreso than Stephen.

Hosuh winced as he thought of his boyfriend and the thought that he might be facing him in a coming round, in the case that he won. He had no doubt that Stephen could beat whoever won the last fight, his bets were on Bella with her character creator quirk, but he didn't know if he could win against Daniel.

"Stay here until they call you on. And, Hosuh?" Elias said with a smile as he turned back towards the hallway, "Good luck. You got this."

_ "Hosuh Lee, the angel from class C! Facing off against Annabelle Melody, the pint-sized pink powerhouse of class C! _ " Came the announcer's annoying voice over the loudspeakers, cueing the two contestants to go forward onto the stage above the screaming people. Their cheers were deafening, the stadium filled with people from all across the country just to watch two teenagers put on a good show. How messed up was that?

"Hey, Hosuh!" Anne said with a smile as they stepped into the white outlined box, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah, not like we both have to fight in this tournament," Hosuh chuckled, adjusting his ponytail as the countdown began.

"Don't think I'm going to go easy on you, just because we're friends!"

"I wouldn't want you to."

Anne smiled, her hands glittering and readying herself for a fight. She didn't exactly know what Hosuh would do, his previous fight involved him dodging until he could trip Ivu up and knock her out of the ring before she could get too close to him and spread her wings. Anne didn't plan to let him do that to her. 

_ "Let the ninth match BEGIN!" _

Hosuh took the initiative, crouching low to the floor as he rushed forward. This would be a quick match if things went how he expected them to go; Anne was a brilliant fighter and played dirty, but often got tripped up by her own surprise and blocked herself off from a lot of opportunities. It was one of the greatest weaknesses she'd need to overcome if she wanted to be a good hero. 

Her glittering hands came up to blind him, so he swiftly dodged to the left with a quick slide, watching her eyes go wide for half a second before she jumped up and ran at him. As far as he knew, she assumed that he was just an artist and not a fighter, but he had a few self-defense classes under his belt even if he hated it. He'd been forced to take them at the time, but now, he understood why. For times when he needed to protect himself and there were no heros around.

"How the hell are you so fast?!" Anne exclaimed, barely ducking out of the way of a right feint by holding up her arms, glittering energy swirling around her in bright sparkles. Hosuh reached out, blindly into the light as he recoiled from it, and grabbed at her hair. With a yank he pulled her out of the disco ball she'd managed to create, apologizing to her for the nasty tactic. She kicked out at him, hitting his chest as they fell to the concrete floor, and reached up to try and pull his hand away with her right one.

She'd failed to realize that her quirk had yet to fade, getting a face full of illuminated glitter which blinded her temporarily. Anne yelled out in confusion, scrambling to try and regain her footing. All Hosuh needed to do was give a little push, and she was out of the ring. Still, he held her left hand, not wanting to actually let her fall as the victory fanfare sounded.

"Huh? What? Nani?" She said, looking around and blinking rapidly as her vision returned. She saw her own feet on the dark gray asphalt of the barrier, letting her know she'd stepped out of bounds, and pouted. "You're so mean, Hosuh! Pulling my hair is dirty!"

"It worked, didn't it? Are you okay? I'm sorry if I actually hurt you, I didn't mean to," He said softly, reaching out to wipe her tears away. If they were from irritation or actual sadness, he didn't know, but he just saw that his friend needed consoling. "C'mon, we'll get ice cream after this. You fought well."

"Thanks. I'm gonna go up to the stands, okay? Kick Jay's butt for me when you get to see him in the next fight!"

They both laughed as they exited the arena, Hosuh taking off his outer jacket as the temperature rose. It was getting hot in there; Jay was excited for his fight against Joe, that was for sure. 

"How do you know Jay's going to win?" He asked, only for the fire user to turn the corner with his escort at that exact moment before Anne could even reply.

"I'm not going to lose to him, no way in hell. I've got too much riding on this," Jay shrugged as he passed by, "I'm looking forward to fighting you in the next round, Hosuh. But, you know you don't need to hold back your quirk against me, right? Whatever it is, I can take you down."

"Whatever, Joe's stronger than you think he is! Don't underestimate him!" Anne laughed, high fiving her blonde friend, "Maybe then you'll get a date!"

Jay shrugged off the comment, his close-eyed smirk more than enough to intimidate most opponents into submission against him, while Anne was one of the few who chose to ignore the danger looming behind his expression. Jay was as cunning as a fox, swift as the wind itself and a deadly machine in his own right; There was no way he'd underestimate Joe.


	2. Foxes and insects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter two! I just wanna say a huge thanks for enjoying the first chapter! Also, I reply to comments right before I update something, so if I don't get back to you right away that's why. I update on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and usually over the weekend.

To say that Joe was terrified for his fight would be the understatement of the millennium. He'd only known Jay for a few months, but he knew better than to actually fight him. Jay was a beast, in every sense of the term. From his physical strength to the inner workings of his mind, he knew he was insanely powerful and made sure everyone else knew it. He didn't particularly care about how he needed to win, so long as he won. He was oddly similar to Stephen in that regard.

And that wasn't even mentioning his quirk. Jay used flames of apathy against his opponents, creating the flames from absolutely nothing. Now, if that were all it was, then it wouldn't be so bad. Except for the fact that those flames had special properties, where they created a sense of complete apathy in those who came in contact with it and those who were exposed to its heatwaves for too long. He could consume someone in the flames and burn them alive and they wouldn't care. That alone was horrific, a villainous power to be sure, but there were rules in place for people like him and Stephen so they didn't accidentally destroy anyone. He didn't actually believe that they would work in this situation, though.

In comparison, Joe's little plants couldn't do that much. If he focused his energies, they could create a larger one which was able to drag people down into the ground, but they didn't work that well with concrete. He'd only barely passed the entrance exam, barely made the point total, and now he was going to fight against a monster. It might be easier to just give up, to let Jay take the win and not even bother with the fight. Surely he'd end up seeing the nurse if he fought. 

That was the gap between class A and class B, as he understood it. He barely made the list, but he did, he knew he made it. Jay, on the other hand, tied with Stephen for a record-breaking high score. They'd needed to redo the test since they destroyed all the bots before anyone else could. Technically, they'd saved everyone as well, and their scores had skyrocketed. Everyone knew, and everyone had heard the legends. And now he had to fight one of those monsters.

Great. Just great. Don't be worried, they said. You can do it, they said.

"They're gonna get burned alive, man." Joe whispered to Elias, "I'm gonna freaking die."

"You're not going to die. If you get hurt, you'll go to the nurse's station, but there's no way you'll die. Jay wouldn't kill you."

"Yes, he is! Or he's gonna kill my wigglers!"

"Do you have a plan to beat him?"

Before he could respond, the announcer called him up to the battle arena. Crap. He took a deep breath as he stepped out into the light, the roar of the crowd matching the thunderous sound of his heartbeat in his ears. Jay had already stepped into the arena, having shucked off his outer blue jacket to reveal the white t-shirt he wore beneath it. Joe swore the clenched feeling around his heart was going to force it to burst soon with his anxiety. 

But this was the same person whom he'd seen cry over the death of a fictional blob of slime. They'd laughed and cried together over the last few months, sneaking into one another's rooms and playing games together until the sun rose the next morning. They made fun of each other, they were friends, he shouldn't be so scared. He couldn't help it. Still, it made him terrified to think about what he could do to him. They'd never trained together, but in the second game, they'd been on the same team and used his wigglers to trip up their enemies. 

His own quirk was a bit odd in terms of how most quirks worked. He could create little monsters in the ground which were only heads, but they had at least one combative ability. They could bite and sink back into the hole they'd come from, dragging whoever they had in their grasp with them. Mostly, he used them for spying or tripping people up, but they were living beings. Everything they felt, Joe felt too. Their injuries didn't translate, but the pain did. He still ached from people having tripped over them in his last fight, but it wasn't going to stop him from fighting his best. So what if his back was killing him and his legs felt like they were made of jelly? Or was that the thought of having to fight Jay? He didn't know anymore.

"Hey, Joe," Jay said with a wave while the countdown began, "I'll make sure to beat you fast so you don't need to suffer too much."

"I can do this," Joe whispered to himself, taking a deep breath before bothering to respond. "Don't take it too fast, you might burn yourself out!" He taunted, though realizing a second after just how stupid he sounded. Still, it was almost impressive that he managed to make a sex joke and a quirk joke in one sentence. Almost being the keyword there. He really had screwed himself there--

Fuck. He did it again.

Jay couldn't help laughing at his friend, rolling his eyes at the bad joke and deciding to roll with it. It would be too awkward if he didn't.

"Oh? You prefer slow and sweet? I'll make a note of that for later." 

Joe's face went bright red, embarrassed at the implications, and thankful that it was unlikely that anyone could hear him over the racocious cheers of the crowd and the announcer's countdown. That would be more embarrassing than his Hero costume to the uneducated. If their other friends were watching, they likely understood what was being said due to past experience, and the thought alone was mortifying. Maybe he should just drop the fight. 

_ "Let the tenth match BEGIN!" _

The announcer's voice boomed out into the stadium, resonating in their minds. Joe crouched low to the ground, warm energy flowing from his hands into the concrete. Spores began to grow, sprouting up into being with a blast of energy. 

Jay didn't even flinch, snapping his fingers as flames burst forth around him, swirling in glowing energy. He stared down at the monstrous beings popping up from the ground, shattering as it launched up into the air. The second it came into contact with his fire, the gray matter heated quickly and melted before it had the chance to hurt him. The calmer he was, the hotter his flames. No need to do anything rash, he thought to himself as he began to walk forward. 

He watched as Joe started to pale the second he stepped down on one of the wiggling heads, a sickening crack causing it to vanish into dust. No blood, only spores. The only one who felt pain from these plant-like beasts being their summoner, he knew. Several bites came to his legs, beginning to drag him down into the ground as it forced him to stop his advance towards his friend. There was no point in wasting time with these, feeling the concrete begin to cave in underneath him. They could bring him down farther than he wanted to go, he'd seen it happen, and he refused to let that be him.

His flames circled his feet, avoiding his own pant leg easily with his control. They weren't as hot as before, not quite melting the concrete as it came into contact, but instead only putting scorch marks onto it. The insectoid monsters retreated at the heat, ducking back into the concrete and burrowing. Joe stood up on shaky legs, trying to gather his bearings with his ears ringing. That stepping on his wiggler had hurt more than he thought it would, but it wasn't going to kill him. It certainly served to anger him, and it made him want to scream at the other. This was a mind game, more than any form of physical and there was no way he could out brute him. If he wanted to win, he needed to bring out Jay's emotions, as the more emotions he felt in the moment, the less effective that his fire would end up being. Nothing he could ever do physically could beat it, especially as he felt the heat creeping up on him from the ground.

He needed to knock Jay off his game, to get him to laugh or feel something so it would be less dangerous. 

"Uhhh... Hey, we're still on for the movies tomorrow, right?" He asked, trying to think of whatever he could say to distract him from attacking. Jay paused for half a second as if trying to recall if they had plans for tomorrow, "Right? C'mon, don't tell me you forgot." 

"What are you doing, Joe?" Jay sighed, stepping forward once again out of the small concave dome which had been created by the wigglers, "If you wanted a date, you only needed to tell me and I would've taken you out long ago." 

With a roll of his eyes, Joe stepped around the ring, keeping his distance from the other. He could feel the writhing forms of his creatures as they emerged from the ground, some behind Jay and others beginning to surround him. He knew from experience that Jay could wipe them out in one fell swoop, so he needed to take it slow. 

The fire came at him, it's burning heat sapping away at his will as it skittered along the ground, engulfing him a void of nothingness. It made him want to cry, to scream as it began to burn. It eviscerated its way through his creatures as he advanced, uncaring at the idea of himself being harmed by his quirk. 

Joe was coming to realize something as Jay unwaveringly walked towards him, the hum of the crowd's energy in his ears. It thrummed through his body and fueled his own fight. How was Jay not being affected by it? By the cheers and screaming? How could he not feel their expectations weighing down on his back, leering him towards his inevitable existential defeat? 

He dared a glance at the stands, where his friends were sitting and watching him. They'd promised to watch their fights, and he had no reason to believe that they wouldn't be here. He saw them standing at the banisters, yelling for him, cheering him on. He needed to fight, needed to at least try! He had to try! It was hopeless, he knew, but hopeless things happened all the time. People who were supposed to die were saved every single day. 

Joe was going to fight. Even though he knew it was hopeless to win, he was going to fight and if he was going to lose, he was going to lose with dignity instead of crying in the corner like a scared little kid. 

The spores from his wigglers spread across the battlefield, spawning smaller creatures across the field. It burned, everything burned as the flames destroyed the living beings, incinerating them. They burst into small flecks of white, and Jay didn't care as he stepped on top of the writhing insects. Shocking pain shot through his spine as one snapped in half, crushed under his weight. It made him want to scream out in agony, but he needed to endure. He dashed for the edge of the arena, having to jump to avoid his own creatures despite the blinding pain spreading across his body.

"Sorry to do this to you, Joe," Jay said with a sigh, rolling his eyes at his opponent. His flames grew in size, encompassing the edge of the battlefield and beginning to shrink. The heat increased, melting the solidified concrete into puddles of molten matter and immediately killing off any spores it came into contact with. They sunk down towards the ground, the grass nearby catching alight. Everything was coming together, burning any chances of Joe's victory right in front of him as he watched his expression fall, succumbing to the apathy his quirk invited. If he didn't act fast, to push him away or knock him out, the judges would likely disqualify him and he'd lose. 

In one big push, he took his flames and sent them with a puff of hot air rushing towards his friend, sending him flying out of bounds, right into the wall, knocking him out instantly. A shocked hush fell over the crowd, gasping at the destruction caused by one man's power. The remaining spores caught up into the wind and mixed with ashes, falling down in slow patterns. It almost resembled snow, from a certain angle. 

Peaceful snow coming down onto the earth from the gods of destruction above. How ironic, Jay thought. He'd left the cement underneath him untouched by the flames, a pillar of strength in a cacophony of embers and rampaging ruin. 

The safety bots had emerged from the halls, fire extinguishers out as he dismissed his quirk. They cooled the melted rock, two rushing over to gauge the state of his friend. He knew the rink would need to be rebuilt, which would take half an hour. He'd managed to buy everyone some more time to strategize, time to plan out and analyze their opponents. 

"Oh well, no rest for the wicked. Guess I'll have to look forward to kicking Hosuh's ass next. Wonder what movies are playing tomorrow." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! Here's a summary of the powers as we know them so far:  
> Hosuh: ???  
> Anne: Glitter summoning/light refraction.  
> Stephen: Weapon summoning and control.   
> Dan: ???  
> Joe: Wiggler Spawning. When he touches the ground, he can summon up to five initial wigglers that pop out of the ground. Upon being destroyed, they release a spore which will spawn even more of them, essentially creating an insectoid hive. However, he feels all the pain they have to go through.   
> Jay: Flames of Apathy. The less he feels, the stronger his flames are. These flames also create a sense of apathy in all those who come into contact with them or are exposed to them for a period of time. Jay, naturally, is unaffected by their heat and doesn't get burns from it, but it does raise his body temperature.
> 
> These powers will be updated with full-on information about them as we get to see them in action, and I will include background characters when they make an appearance more than a single sentence.


	3. The Hero he wants to be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Hey! This isn't when you normally upload!" You're right. It's not. Because I have volunteer work that soaks up a lot of my time and I got injured while doing so, bad enough that I could not focus on writing. So, for a while, we're gonna get once a week uploads, though it's likely gonna be on Wednesdays. And remember, whatever drama is going on, I'm taking the Gavin route and say a big 'No Drama' here.

Dan wasn't worried about his fight. He was supposed to be fighting against a kid from the business class who looked like an Alien, and he didn't particularly find him that interesting. Was that his only quirk? Looking like an alien? Pretty lame, if you asked him. How did he win in that first fight? How did he even make it this far? 

Was he actually an alien? 

"I'm thinking too much about this," He sighed as he watched the bots and teachers repair the arena and reset it. They'd probably have to repair it, or entirely rebuild it in this case, at least one more time with Jay's next fight. He knew his friends, he knew them well, and he understood how their quirks worked. Stephen would be facing Mona after he desecrated Bob, but Mona would not have a snowball's chance in death valley of winning against the purple-haired psychopath. 

He knew how the fights would go, even without tampering with the scenarios. He'd beat Bob, likely by knocking him out of bounds, Stephen would beat Mona by knocking her unconscious with a bola to the head. Having control and being able to summon any weapon imaginable made him a force to be reckoned with on the best of days, but something put him on edge more so than normal today. Hosuh would probably lose against Jay, with Hosuh not having a quirk and Jay's being strong, which would infuriate Stephen. His boyfriend would have been beaten by Jay, possibly burning him and injuring him so he'd need healing.

Then, in the second semi-final round, Dan could use his quirk against Stephen, using his enraged state to catch him in a catch-22 scenario. But Stephen was clever, he knew, and would probably find a way to beat it before too long. Though, by then, he'd already have left his marks on the faculty. Jay and Stephen would destroy one another, likely leading to one or both of them getting a red flag and disqualified, leaving the winner to be between him and Hosuh.

A fight which he'd easily win. Hosuh didn't like fighting if he could avoid it, and then the faculty would have no choice but to transfer him into the hero course. Some would say he was being underhanded, thinking so far ahead and betting against his friend, but with his quirk, there wasn't anything else for him to do aside from being creative.

Such was the nature of quirks like his own.

He’d always looked up to heros who made the most of their unique abilities, he’d looked up to them for as long as he could remember. When he was a child, there was a large poster of the Wild, Wild Pussycats on his door, and he always found Tiger to be his biggest inspiration. He didn’t care about what everyone else thought, didn’t care that his quirk was considered weak, he just wanted to help. Even when Ragdoll lost her quirk, he still looked up to her, even if he wasn’t able to understand what she’d been through.

As he got older, he discovered Red Riot, a hero who could harden his skin into rock. He’d had a whole phase where he idolized the hero, along with his friend Chargebolt, for their mastery of their quirks. In an interview he’d been watching, he heard the name Lemillion, and immediately set about researching. Stephen had become infatuated with the hero and all that he stood for almost immediately, while Daniel couldn’t quite understand the appeal. His quirk was overpowered to begin with, why was it surprising that he did well?   
People like that grated on his nerves. People who were blessed with the ability to permanently change the world with their insane abilities, leaving people like himself to sit in their shadows. 

He was often told that his quirk was powerful, but that simply wasn’t true. He couldn’t really change anything, not permanently; everything he did was temporary. Nothing ever lasted. 

When he’d first heard that Stephen had asked Hosuh out, after the mutual confession of their crushes, he’d been happy. Then, he realised just how much things would have to  _ change  _ as a result, and he didn’t feel so happy. He’d never been a third wheel before, felt almost like an accessory to their relationship for the first few weeks, only for Gavin to be the one to point out how much it didn’t matter. The two of them never acted any different, except for the occasional hand holding and their flirting had increased marginally, but Hosuh didn’t want any of that to be public. He wanted to keep that behind closed doors, allowing the hand holding at Stephen’s behest. 

The one who had changed was Dan. His perspective had changed on them and he’d nearly ruined everything. 

He wanted to make people smile. If being a hero didn’t work out, he could become an entertainer, like how Hosuh wanted to be an artist. But he wanted to be a hero because it was those heroes who had made him smile, who made him laugh and find hope even in the darkest of times. That was who he wanted to be.

But fortune favored the bold, and his quirk couldn’t hold a candle to Stephen or Jay’s. Hell, he couldn’t even beat Joe if he wasn’t creative with it. Gavin didn’t even have a quirk and he’d be more likely to become a hero than Daniel if he didn’t play his cards right, in the perfect order. Elias was a guard, having a perfect quirk for dealing with criminals, but the inability to use it in anything other than close quarters. It made sense for his position. And he’d trained in hand-to-hand combat, to keep things from going too awry once the fight began.

There was a knock behind him, interrupting his thoughts as he turned towards it. 

Elias opened the door to the room he was sitting in, smiling at his little brother. Dan couldn't see his eyes, not behind the mass of ocean blue hair, but he knew from experience that there was something he wanted to hear. 

"Hey, what's up?" He asked, sitting up straighter as Elias walked in, taking a seat across from Dan and handed him a piece of paper. 

"This is for you."

Dan raised an eyebrow and took it, unfolding it to see a written declaration of resignation from the fight. His jaw dropped as he read, trying to find the reason; why?! Why did he do that?! 

His answer was at the bottom of the page. 

_ "You're likely asking yourself why I have decided to pull out of the runnings in this tournament. The answer is simple; I can sense your intentions and there's no way in hell I'm helping you do stuff like that. So have fun with one less chance to impress the crowd ;P " _

Dan took a deep breath before crumpling the paper in his hand, setting it down. Right. All that only worked if things went his way. And as a storyteller, there was one absolute he knew by heart.

The players never follow the script as it was originally written.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those of you who are familiar with my BNHA works will probably recognize some of the themes in this fic from here out, where it gets to the fact that I cannot write fight scenes so I focus instead on an underlying worldbuilding thing and blow it up to full fic proportions. Have fun :D  
> \---------  
> Hosuh: ???  
> Anne: Glitter summoning/light refraction.  
> Stephen: Weapon summoning and control.  
> Dan: ??? Something to do with Scenarios.  
> Joe: Wiggler Spawning. When he touches the ground, he can summon up to five initial wigglers that pop out of the ground. Upon being destroyed, they release a spore which will spawn even more of them, essentially creating an insectoid hive. However, he feels all the pain they have to go through.  
> Jay: Flames of Apathy. The less he feels, the stronger his flames are. These flames also create a sense of apathy in all those who come into contact with them or are exposed to them for a period of time. Jay, naturally, is unaffected by their heat and doesn't get burns from it, but it does raise his body temperature.
> 
> Bonus:   
> Bob: Sense motive.


	4. A monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I understand that the fight is stupidly short. No, I do not intend to rewrite it, it's meant to be that wat to show the difference in power levels, like Sero and Todoroki's fight.

Stephen didn't know what to think when he found out that Dan was advancing to the next round because his opponent had pulled out of the running. On the one hand, it was a chance to thwart Daniel's plans, which he was always a fan of. But on the other hand, it meant Dan got a chance to rest instead of fighting in this round and that wasn't fair to him, who had to fight against Mona and her watermelons. She could create little watermelon creatures so long as she could release their spores into the dirt, which meant they'd likely grow outside the ring and then swarm him. Class B students weren't anything to laugh at, he'd seen how crazy their quirks could be.

"What do you think, Hosuh?" He asked, glancing at his boyfriend who was currently resting his head on his shoulder. He looked tired, likely due to his anxiety acting up again and not letting him sleep. That wasn't an uncommon occurrence, but why had he not come to him then? He wouldn't have been able to stay up with him, but he could help soothe his worries.

"I think that Dan's probably overthinking what's going to happen next. He always does." Hosuh hummed, fiddling with the pencil in his hand. "Probably wondering what scenario to torture you with."

"Let him! I'll take on whatever the hell he decides to throw at me! There's no way he's gonna beat me."

Hosuh tiredly leaned up and kissed his cheek, the hand without the pencil moving to lay atop Stephen's own.

"Mhm. Please be careful, though. Remember, our families are probably watching so we should at least put on a show for the audience." 

"Gavin will enjoy watching no matter what happens. Even when I lose, which I  _ don't _ , he'll just laugh at me." Stephen chuckled, staring at the arena as they waited for the cement to cool back down, "I'm gonna fucking eviscerate everyone who stands in my way."

"What if it was me?" 

"It's not gonna come to that, Hosuh, but if it does, I'll make sure to beat you quickly so you won't be too embarrassed."

Hosuh chuckled at his laughing boyfriend, smiling ever so slightly, "Who says you'll win?"

Stephen pulled him in close, his laughter gone and smirk replacing his smile. Hosuh knew what he was doing, Stephen knew, he was riling him up. Trying to incite a reaction in him because it was fun. It was how their relationship worked; He'd say one thing, Hosuh would tease him back, and they'd end up laughing about it later because they knew that he'd never actually hurt him.

"I know I'll win because I'm gonna fucking kill anyone in my way, and if I have to fight you, you'll be feeling it later courtesy of my dick!"

They laughed together despite the crude language, Stephen kissing Hosuh gently once before he stood up and stretched. 

"I need to get ready for my fight. Better be cheering for me, Hos." 

"Always. Now go out there and win!" 

As if he needed another reason to do his best in these fights. He had his favorite person in the world cheering him on, ready to watch him win over and over again. That, combined with his own drive to win, was more than enough motivation to continue on. 

Mona looked terrified as he passed by her in the hall, the raw fear in her eyes making him smirk inwardly. The fight would be fun, with her lack of resistance in the face of his power. 

When he entered the ready room, seeing Joe sitting there so he could gather his stuff from the lockers and comfort his own loss. Stephen sat down at the head of the table, sighing. Joe looked miserable, arms wrapped in bandages and partly up his neck. Their local healers had done their best, leaving only minor injuries, but the skin needed to be covered and bandaged with specialized creams to keep it from being too bad. Stephen knew that from experience, having spent two weeks in a similar state after a one on one training with Jay and ending in a tie with both of them being knocked out.

"Hey, why are you crying?" Stephen asked, staring at his friend with a blank expression. Joe jolted, looking up at him with reddened eyes, puffy from his crying. He looked shocked, confused and a little bit offended. Why'd he asked that? Wasn't it obvious why he was crying?! He lost so badly that the entire arena was desecrated!

"Just because you lost doesn't mean you didn't fight well. Of course, I can do way better, but you did the best you could. Even if you can't use weapons, you did your best and it was absolute bullshit how fast you got obliterated."

"Wait. Are you... Comforting me? Why?" 

"Because I can't stand a pitiful expression I didn't cause, simple."

"You're a real jerk, you know that?!"

"What? I'm not a jerk!" 

Before they could continue, falling into a real argument rather than playful jabs, the door opened with a creek. Elias stood there, his expression as unreadable to the two as ever. A smile, small as can be, but no window into the soul. 

"Stephen? The arena's all fixed up, so-"

"Yeap." Stephen smirked, jumping up from his seat. His fight was just about to begin, and he didn't expect it to take very long. He didn't need to say anything, relishing in the wave of fear his presence created as he walked through the halls. It had filled with students who parted in their crowding for him, whispering to themselves.

_ That's Stephen, one of class A's monsters. _ they said to one another in terror,  _ I heard he can control all weapons. He's practically a villain already! Combine him with Jay and I have to question the hero course. _

He'd already marked them on his shit list. He had taken the time to recognize key players from each class, and though he couldn't recall them if you gave him a list, but when they were right in front of him? That was a whole other deal. He knew where they lived, which room was theirs, where they sat in class. 

Knowledge was a type of weapon, words slicing through the psyche better than a knife ever could. 

_ Yeah? Well, I heard he's got a boyfriend. _ Oh? That piqued his interest, glancing at the one who'd said it and slowing his pace ever so slightly. Tall, dark hair, eyes masked from his view. Class C's representative.  _ He's in my class. Wonder if anyone would have an issue with us using him to get to Stephen? He's the quirkless one. Fighting in the semi-finals somehow. _

_ The cute one? Damn, lucky you. Doesn't look like he'd put up much of a fight despite what we've seen so far. _

A knife stuck in between the two of their heads, lodging itself into the wall.

"Don't touch my Hosuh, or I won't miss again," Stephen warned, voice lacking his usual energy. Class C's representative lived in the room above Hosuh's own, always went to bed at exactly nine pm, and woke up first so he could take a run down to the nearby town, through the forest, and back before class. Perfect target. No witnesses.

Elias glared at Stephen.

"You can't do that, Stephen, you know that."

"Maybe they should think next time before talking shit!" 

"Doesn't matter." 

"That's bullshit, Elias! And you know it too! Garbage people like that, talking about messing with someone else's boyfriend? That's basically bullying! And you know that deserves punishment!"

All the whispers had stopped as the knife dissipated into nothingness, leaving behind a section of the wall where it had been. A threat of what would befall someone who reaped his ire further.

"Y-You're a villain!" The representative exclaimed, shaky hands pointing out towards him. Stephen turned on his heel, fire lighting in his eyes as he did with rage boiling up inside him like a raging tsunami, swallowing him whole.

"No, I'm a person who's got your fucking number. You're the asshole who was threatening my boyfriend and I'm within my legal rights to protect him, so I'd suggest shutting the hell up before I do execute that right on you."

"You can't do anything about a threat," Elias sighed, "You and Jay are taking the provisional licensing test after your internships."

"Oh, I haven't forgotten. But just watch yourself, sir." Stephen stepped back, satisfied with the look of horror on the other's face as he was continuously escorted towards the field. Their teacher had taken Jay and himself aside the previous week, giving them each two tests. A physical one and a written test. The physical test had been brutal, a forty-eight-hour on-call simulation which did not allow them to sleep, constantly having a new style of villain to face or rescue situation. No one died, though they were both dead tired afterward, and required to take the written test after four hours of sleep. 

That test was harder than anything they'd done in class, but it was enough that they were able to barely pass.

Their teacher had informed them after the fact that both of those were designed for the third-year students to test if they were ready to take the proper hero test. She allowed them both permission to take the next provisional licensing test after their internships, barring the fact that they do well during them. 

Some say it was luck because of their quirks, but they'd put in all the effort to know their limits better than anyone else.

As soon as he saw Mona standing across the arena from him, her mask having been forgone for the sake of the battle, he knew things would be getting sticky soon. Whenever she spoke, she released spores into the air and if they made contact with dirt, they sprouted into little watermelon minions to do her bidding. That mask allowed her to speak without the issues.

She knew how dangerous he was, too. Her trembling told him as such.

_ "Let the match BEGIN!" _ The announcer screamed, and Mona wasted no time in running to the edge of the arena as Stephen rushed forward, portals opening up above him as weapons produced themselves. A net gun fell into his arms, already loaded with a rope net, weighted down at the corners by sharp daggers. He took aim as he ran, hearing Mona's sweet voice as it filled the arena with a shout. She wasn't saying anything in particular, no need to make a big show this early on when the next rounds would do the work for them. With a pull of a trigger, the net released with a blast and he needed to steady himself against the recoil as it shot out. She turned towards the sound with a yelp, unable to dodge the incoming projectile before it wrapped around her, forcing her down into the concrete. 

Stephen let the gun vanish, focusing his energy on the ammunition it had spawned with and one other thing he needed, with swirling violet portals opening up from the ground. Mona screamed and the crowd gasped as she found herself in the pouch of a trebuchet, ready to be catapulted out of the arena if he wanted. Would that kill her? Possibly. 

He couldn't risk it, even as the counterbalance came crashing down into the concrete and launched her out of bounds. He focused his energy on the net, transferring the momentum into a swirling pattern now that it encompassed her entire body and stopped her from getting any serious injuries as he lowered her back down to earth. The crowd roared with horror and amazement, terrified at what they'd witnessed, only for the referees to judge in Stephen's favor. 

But this was boring. He needed a real challenge, and he had his sights set on Daniel next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh: ???  
> Anne: Glitter summoning/light refraction.  
> Stephen: Weapon summoning and control.  
> Dan: ??? Something to do with Scenarios.  
> Joe: Wiggler Spawning. When he touches the ground, he can summon up to five initial wigglers that pop out of the ground. Upon being destroyed, they release a spore which will spawn even more of them, essentially creating an insectoid hive. However, he feels all the pain they have to go through.  
> Jay: Flames of Apathy. The less he feels, the stronger his flames are. These flames also create a sense of apathy in all those who come into contact with them or are exposed to them for a period of time. Jay, naturally, is unaffected by their heat and doesn't get burns from it, but it does raise his body temperature.
> 
> Bonus:  
> Mona: Melon Minons. When she speaks, she releases a spore which, when in contact with dirt, creates watermelon minions which are under her control.


	5. Recognize his power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are. Hosuh's power is finally revealed! Yay! To anyone who may have picked up on the clues scattered throughout the fic in the chapters prior, good for you! Dan's quirk will be featured in the next chapter!

Hosuh knew that fighting against Jay was going to be tough. There was no way he could get out of it without using his quirk, so he needed to prepare. He always had pain killers in his bag, an inhaler as well, and there were pressure points one could use to halt the dizziness he felt whenever he used it on a large scale. It was one of the many reasons he did not want to be a hero; his quirk was useful for what he wanted to do but not so much so for the hero life. And that was just fine with Hosuh, he'd applied to General studies for a reason other than just wanting to go to the same school as Stephen and Dan.

But now that he was thinking about facing down Jay, he was dreading it with a pit of rocks settling itself in his stomach. Jay could legitimately kill him, with the referee's only being able to stop it when he was half dead. There was a good chance that he'd end up on fire, knowing his luck and Jay's strive for victory. In the case that he did end up in the hospital, Jay would be disqualified and they'd have to decide with the teachers if Hosuh's injuries knocked him out of the competition, leaving Stephen or Daniel to take the first place trophy. 

That wasn't going to happen if he had anything to say about it. He'd taken one of his prescription medications for dizziness, estimating around five minutes until it kicked in. Until then, he would need to either deal with the side effects of his quirk or simply act faster than Jay. Apparently, the fire user had been coming up with a new way to use his flames, and if Hosuh could bring that out, then at least it would give Stephen an advantage in the finals as he didn't expect to win the fight.

He also wasn't going to drop out of the match, though. 

The door creaked open and in walked a person who Hosuh didn't expect to be there. His class representative.

"Hey, Hosuh, I just wanted to check in on you before your next match." He said, sitting next to the other student with a smile. 

"Okay. Why though? Dan's gonna be fighting against Stephen and I'm surprised you're not visiting him."

"Daniel's quirk is powerful enough that he might be able to take down Stephen," Hosuh flinched at the words, remembering their last fight two weeks ago, "And Jay could kill you."

"Well, thank you, but I'm going to be fine. I'm grateful that you're worried though," He smiled at his representative, "I have a plan but I'm not sure it's going to work. Maybe my plan B will though."

"Oh? And what's your plan?" 

"I'm gonn- What're you doing?" 

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the man had surged forward and pressed his lips against the others as he reached forward and pinned his wrists to the table. Hosuh blinked a few times, heart racing as confusion filled his head. He tried to move, to do anything, to scream or kick out but found his body lacked his own will to it. His wrist was released, hand forcefully being pulled up by an unseen force towards his class rep's head as if to deepen the kiss.

Just as he began to cry, his power buzzing under his skin to be let go and to destroy this man, he heard a gasp from the direction of the door. Glancing in that direction he saw Daniel standing there, a shocked expression on his face, body trembling before he ran off. His other wrist was released and their lips were separated directly after.

The first thing Hosuh did was kick his knee forcefully against his class representative's crotch, causing him to fall back with an expletive.

"What the heck was that?!" Hosuh exclaimed, "Why would you kiss me? You know I have a boyfriend!"

"That's exactly why," He hissed out, "It's to spite Stephen. Daniel's gonna tell him you cheated on him." 

No. No. Dan wouldn't... Would he? Was he really that petty? 

Hosuh already knew the answer to that. He ran out of the ready room, down the hall in the direction he'd seen Dan running off in. It didn't matter about the festival, all that mattered to him was making sure Daniel didn't tell Stephen about the assault. If it was painted as cheating, Stephen could quite possibly summon a nuclear bomb with his quirk and destroy the entire county in his anguish. There were regulations in place to keep him from summoning any form of classed weapons; net guns were pushing his allowances as they were technically restraint tools. He wasn't so sure about the trebuchet but he was sure it was on the lower end.

If it was shown as an assault, then he was sure there'd be a corpse to deal with as soon as the situation came to light. He needed to stop it from happening, from either of those happening. 

Daniel was talking with Elias when he turned the corner, and his stomach dropped. Green eyes met ice blue and widened, guilt and judgment shining in them. Hosuh didn't know what Elias was thinking, he never did, but he could tell from the frown that he wasn't happy. The blue-haired guard looked down at his tablet and began searching for something.

"Dan- I promise, whatever you thought that was, it wasn't! You know I'd never betray Stephen like that!"

"I don't know, Hosuh, do I? Because it looked to me like you were kissing our class rep!"

Dan's words shot like ice through his heart and the tears finally fell, a hurt sort of pain fueling him as energy began to crackle under his fingertips. The waves of dizziness washed over him and pounded against his head. 

"Hosuh, it's time for your match. Daniel, go to ready room B and wait there." Elias ordered as he placed a hand on Hosuh's shoulder. All the power he'd let build up underneath his skin dissipated as a result of Elias' quirk, the frown having been replaced by a comforting smile. 

"But, Elia-"

"No, Daniel. Go to the ready room, and not a word of this to Stephen." 

Dan didn't argue further, heading off towards the ready room with his hands in his pockets. Hosuh looked up at Elias curiously, a little confused as he gently lead him to start walking forward.

"Why'd you stop him?" He asked softly.

"Because Daniel was telling me about the class representative. He threatened something to Stephen earlier and I think he'd acted on it, targeting you. His quirk is pretty brutal; if he makes skin contact with you, he controls you, but he loses the ability to control his own body. Did you want to kiss him?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Then I'll report him for harassment and have the security tapes recorded as evidence. He's not going to get away with what happened, but it's going to be done the slow, legal way."

Hosuh nodded, but his anxiety did not lessen. The thought that he would be losing Stephen if he found out threatened to take a hold of him, thoughts whizzing through his mind as it came to its inevitable conclusion. If Stephen found out and either scenario came to light, he would absolutely be killed. The law kept him from using his quirk freely, the same laws which kept the army from sweeping people like him away for the purposes of war. If he broke those laws, he wouldn't have the protection he'd been afforded until then, and he would be swept up into a combat zone before they knew it.

He couldn't let that happen, but what could he do?

"I know it seems hopeless, but things will be okay. My advice? Show the world what you can do with that quirk of yours, show them not to mess with you. Just, ya know, try not to bring down the entire building." 

They both laughed a little at the thought. Instead of bringing the building down, it was more likely that the building would be ripped from the ground. Still, it made him smile and helped to calm him as they reached the gate. There was a minute or so before they'd be called on, so he looked up towards the student's section of the stands from where he was and let out a sigh of relief when he saw a shock of purple hair leaning up against the front railing. Stephen was there, waiting to see him fight, and he absolutely could not disappoint him. 

There was too much riding on this fight. It wasn't just the want to win to see it to completion, no longer the desire to get first place. No, he needed to win. Because if Dan told Stephen during their fight, there'd be no way to talk to him other than in the finals.

He wasn't going to let himself lose, especially not to Jay of all people.

_ "Hosuh Lee, the silver angel of class C! Verses, the fire-wielding powerhouse of class A, Jay Ko!" _ The announcer called, cueing Hosuh and Jay to step onto the concrete arena. 

"You look like you've been crying, Hosuh." Jay said with a shrug once he saw his opponent, "Were you that worried about fighting me? Don't worry, I'll beat you fast so no one has to notice."

"I don't have the energy to deal with this today, Jay. Let's just get this over and done with."

_ "Let the match BEGIN!" _

Neither of them wasted any time in activating their powers, flames bursting forth from around Jay and shooting out towards Hosuh at lightning speed. On any normal day, there would be no contest in who would win, but Hosuh didn't have the patience to deal with Jay and his quirk today. Today, he fought.

His arms went numb as his quirk activated, the concrete and steel in the arena bending to his will. It ripped up from the ground, the battle arena shaking as it was torn from its support. It fluidly wrapped around Jay, blocking his line of sight in a tight cocoon of concrete without holes for air. There was no way it would kill Jay, he knew that, but he heard the crowd gasp in shock. 

The dizziness came next, vision swirling as he lost his footing. No concentration was needed to force the material where he wanted it to go, the action was second nature to him by this point. Blistering heat radiated off of it in waves as he forced the husk aloft, ready to throw Jay out of the arena. Out of bounds. Out of the match. Molten concrete dripped as Jay fell, blasting himself up with the force of his own flames as the place he'd just been held melted behind him.

"What the hell is that, Hosuh?!"

Hosuh didn't bother to respond, a small voice in his head which sounded suspiciously like his boyfriend laughing. Jay didn't know what his quirk was, which worked to his advantage, and he'd made a crucial mistake. When concrete melted, it did not turn red like a molten stone; it started turning dark grey. All Jay had done was give him a more powerful weapon.

A blast of flames came at his left, a wall of concrete erecting itself with a thought at his side to protect him. It melted like ice, but Hosuh could tell the power behind Jay's quirk was weakening. The blonde was getting angry. 

The melted concrete became spears, floating above Hosuh's head dangerously as he watched his friend land on the other side of the battlefield, another curse on his lips. 

"Do I really have to keep doing this?" Hosuh sighed, his head spinning as he crossed his arms and switched his footing. A simple shift such as this had detrimental reactions for the world around him, the banisters being torn away from the walls as it concaved, heading towards his opponent as fast as one could believe.

By then, fire had melted the majority of the field once more, which Hosuh raised again. The silver metal wrapped itself around Jay, and Hosuh watched as the rage overtook him. Finally. 

His chest screamed in indignation, breath torn from his lips as he let his quirk throw Jay against the wall, fear showing for once in those mismatched eyes as the wall itself sucked him in like quicksand. Molten concrete was placed back to the earth, Hosuh's quirk deactivating as he screamed wetly from the blooming agony which tore its way through his body, vision fading to black as he fell forward onto the remains of where he'd fought, blood trickling out of his mouth from the strain on his body. 

No words were spoken, no cheers or cries as the crowd was left in shock. Every student in UA had believed one thing since the beginning of the semester; Hosuh Lee had no quirk. But if he had no quirk, then what in the world had they just witnessed? 

Then, the world moved again as if in hyperspeed; the teachers running onto the field to get Jay down from the wall as ice crept up to freeze the liquidated concrete, creating a safe path for them to retrieve Hosuh and bring them both to the nurse for inspection. 

And Stephen? He was running. Running as fast as he could; all the way down the hall, ignoring everyone in his way as he pushed through the guards to get to the gate. He needed to know what happened, needed to understand why his boyfriend was lying unconscious with blood coming from his mouth, needed to make sure he was okay-!

There was nothing which could prepare him for the words he'd been told so long ago, ringing in his ears as he overheard it from the teachers who were supposed to keep them safe. Supposed to teach them to use their quirks to benefit society, to keep them from hurting others or themselves.

He'd been thankful his little brother was born without a quirk, and he didn't think he'd ever have to hear them again after his own quirk had come through when he was five.

"It seems his quirk is just too much for his body to handle."

Hosuh was advancing to the finals, in the case that he woke up. There'd been someone, around ten years ago, who had a problem similar to this and they'd allowed him to proceed as long as it wasn't a threat to their life. But they'd broken bones while using their quirk, and he was now the number one hero in the world.

Hosuh... Didn't want to be a hero. He didn't want to bulk up and fight. He'd often expressed his desire to never have to do such a thing for his own sake. Quirks were physical and mental tolls on the human body, Stephen's own quirk demanded much of his focus for each individual piece and too much use of it could render him brain dead, and there was a chance it could instantly kill him. Whenever he felt the tingling in his spine, spreading up to the base of his skull, he knew that was when he had to stop. 

He'd pressed that limit twice before, ending up in a week-long coma the first time, and waking up perfectly fine a few hours later the second. 

There was Hosuh's homeroom teacher standing there, a woman with emerald green hair and bright yellow eyes. She normally wore a smile, making plenty of cat puns along the way, but he found those lacking as she approached him.

"You're Stephen, right? Hosuh's friend."

"I'm not his friend, I'm his  _ boyfriend! _ What the hell power did Hosuh use that made him pass out?! I thought he was quirkless!"

The woman looked confused. Then, the normal smile returned to her face and she couldn't stop the laughter.

"Y-You- Ahahaha!! Oh man, that's funny! Hosuh's got one of the most powerful quirks I've ever seen!" 

What? What the hell? What the actual fuck?

"Then what the hell is his power?!"

The laughter stopped, and the somber personality was back.

"Hosuh can control anything on the greyscale, from pure black to the whitest of whites! If his body wasn't so weak, he could be one of the most powerful quirk users in the world! Because he can control the grey matter in our brains and white blood cells; it's pretty scary~!"

Stephen had no idea what the hell this woman was on, but he was pretty sure it wasn't normal catnip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh: Greyscale. He can control anything on the greyscale, from pitch black to pure white, but the bigger the object and more he has to focus on it, the worse side effects he gets.  
> Anne: Glitter summoning/light refraction.  
> Stephen: Weapon summoning and control.  
> Dan: ??? Something to do with Scenarios.  
> Joe: Wiggler Spawning. When he touches the ground, he can summon up to five initial wigglers that pop out of the ground. Upon being destroyed, they release a spore which will spawn even more of them, essentially creating an insectoid hive. However, he feels all the pain they have to go through.  
> Jay: Flames of Apathy. The less he feels, the stronger his flames are. These flames also create a sense of apathy in all those who come into contact with them or are exposed to them for a period of time. Jay, naturally, is unaffected by their heat and doesn't get burns from it, but it does raise his body temperature.
> 
> Fun fact: Hosuh wasn't supposed to win this fight. But as I was writing out the molten concrete, I had to look up photos to describe it, and when I saw that it was dark grey I knew that Jay was absolutely fucked.


	6. Talk to me and know I speak the truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I know I said I'd be updating more, but that's not really gonna happen because I've been sewing masks for the local hospitals and essential businesses, which is taking up all my time. Some of you readers may know this but I am considered a "high risk" patient, meaning if I get the virus there's a high chance I will die or require hospitalization because my body can't kick the virus out, and my lungs are so damaged that I already have trouble breathing. So I will be focusing on that, but this fic is already completed in my google docs and it will be updated every Wednesday until it is completed. Afterwards, I will post as I can get things written.

Dan didn't know what to think about what he'd seen. Obviously, Hosuh had been kissing their class rep, but it seemed there was more to it. What could it be? Hosuh had the fighting skills to keep from getting pinned down, he wouldn't let it happen by force without struggle, and he hadn't seen any form of it. He almost looked like he enjoyed it. 

Well, this at least gave him a bargaining chip to use against Stephen in their fight. It would enrage him and cause him to act rashly, moreso than usual. Combined with the right scenario, it could end in his victory, and he'd go on to fight against Jay in the finals. 

"Dan?" Anne's sweet voice came from the doorway, "Dan, why aren't you watching Hosuh's match?" 

"Uh, because Elias told me to stay here and the tv's out?" Dan chuckled as she walked in, sitting down across from him. "What're you doing here?"

"Well, I was going to go into room A, I forgot my phone, but the class rep is in there! He's being all shady and I don't have the energy to deal with it. He looked like he was in pain though." 

Pain? Why would he be in pain? Had Stephen already caught on to Hosuh's cheating?

"Oh? Any idea why he was in pain?"

"Looked like he'd been kicked in the crotch to me." 

Dan winced immediately, phantom pain spreading through his body at the thought. That hurt, it really hurt. He knew from experience. Had Hosuh kicked him there? But why did he look so... into it? 

"Whatever, I bet he deserved it. Anyway, any plans on how you're gonna win against Stephen?" 

"Proper phrasing, I guess. And lots of luck." 

Anne knew what Dan's quirk was. She'd known for years, and she knew why he needed to hold it together and watch his words in his everyday conversations. Nothing else could live up to the pressure he put on himself to keep it going, to keep things safe for the people he cared about, no matter what he did. There were plenty of ways he could make things go awry for the people around him, with just the right wording. 

She was almost jealous. All the boys around her had crazy quirks and hers was considered subpar in comparison. Well, at least she had Hosuh in the weak to no quirk club. Then, as she was about to speak, the ground shook and the tables rattled, a yelp coming from the room's occupants at the clang of metal crashing together. 

"What the hell?!" They exclaimed, reaching out to take one another's hand in support as the television light's flickered on, showing the state of the arena, with Jay being sucked into the wall by an unseen power and Hosuh standing amongst blackened concrete, the only thing keeping him afloat a patch of solid matter which he promptly fell down onto. 

The two of them were so confused, too shocked to say anything as the shaking stopped; What happened out there while they were talking? What happened with Jay? Questions were buzzing through their minds, blocked out with the ringing in their ears and the commotion of people coming to the rescue of their two students. Loud footsteps crashed against the hall's tile, and they turned just in time to see Stephen desperately running down the hall with a crazed expression. 

_ I'm gonna tell him, Dan. I'm gonna tell Hosuh how much I love him. _

_ I just can't get the words out! Every time I try to tell Stephen that I'm absolutely in love with him, it's more than just a crush now, I freeze up! It was hard enough when it was just a crush and we started dating but... I can't imagine feeling this way about anyone else. _

Dan knew what he had to do. He knew what he needed to do to win the fight, but he wasn't so sure he wanted to do it anymore. He knew that his two best friends were ass over teakettle in love with one another, he'd seen the way they fit together in such perfect harmony it was as if they were truly soulmates. Could he really believe that Hosuh would cheat on someone who was rushing in such a panic to make sure he was okay? Could he?

"Anne? Can you bring the class rep here? I need to talk with him."

* * *

They were able to get the stadium repaired in record time, but the banisters were a different story. For the time being, the crowd had been instructed to stay at least ten feet away from the edge at all times, without exceptions. The nurse had taken it upon herself to usher Stephen out of the room, forcing him away from the slumbering Hosuh and Jay. She promised that they would be up soon, Hosuh needed to rest and then he'd be ready for the finals. As interested as Stephen was in getting to the truth about the epidemic which had occurred, and in beating Hosuh's ass into the ground, he understood his place and knew he couldn't fight against this. 

He'd just need to take out his frustrations on the green-haired man standing across from him, the countdown echoing in their ears with the hum of the crowd's apprehension. If the other person whom's quirk they'd not seen was that dangerous, what would this one have in store? That was the energy the two absorbed.

But Dan's quirk required far more precision than most others in the world. Some needed to deal with physical issues, but the mental strain took far worse tolls on the body in their experience. It was time for the second to last fight of the tournament, the world watching with bated breath.

"So, Stephen, I gotta say, I didn't expect to actually be fighting you." Daniel admitted, "Thought you'd wanna be with Hosuh."

"Well, ya know Daniel, things happen and I got kicked out of the hospital room, but I'm still really angry. Wonder if your ugly mug could have something to do with it?"

"Oh please, don't flatter yourself."

_ "Let the match BEGIN!" _ The announcer exclaimed, and just as Stephen's portals revealed themselves, Daniel smirked with thoughts of victory swirling in his head.

" **_By the way_ ** _ , Stephen, can you win this match with our quirks swapped? _ " As soon as the words left his mouth, reaching the ears of his target, green and purple energy swirled from beneath them. Stephen paused, watching as their auras switched between the two of the contestants. He knew how Dan's quirk worked, with the key phrase needing to be spoken and heard by the target. The world would then warp into his imagination until the scenario was finished; if they died in the scenario, they were fine in real life as soon as it ended. And it must be phrased in the form of a question to work properly. 

And while Dan knew how Stephen's quirk worked, there was a reason he'd swapped them. Stephen was forced, by law, to wear a limiter at all times to keep himself from summoning anything which was considered a classed weapon, but he could break its hold at great risk to himself. Now, the limiter was still on Stephen, while Dan was free to use any weapon ever created throughout history which his body could handle.

He was essentially quirkless in the face of Daniel, all with a simple question.

"What the hell, Daniel!? Do you even know how the hell to use my quirk?!" He exclaimed, running forward towards his opponent in an attempt to catch him by surprise.

"What? Yeah, I do!" Dan said, "And I bet I can do it better than you!"

"Suck a dick, sir!" 

A wooden shield came over him, slotting itself onto his arm as he blocked against Stephen's right hook punch. There was nothing he could do except use his normal fighting style, something he was typically proficient in, against his opponent, and Stephen detested it.

Another portal opened, summoning a weapon of choice, only for Stephen to shove his hand in. Dan choked on air, feeling as if someone had punched him in the gut, gripping at his organs and squeezing as Stephen pulled out a lead pole. He wasn't allowed swords or guns, not even knives in this instance, but he could use blunt objects as much as he pleased. The torturous pain almost made Dan scream as it was torn from him, his energy draining with its creation. Pins and needles began climbing their way up his spine in a manner wholly unfamiliar to him.

"Sucks, doesn't it, Dan?" Stephen taunted, "Hurts like a bitch."

Dan coughed as he regained his footing, the pain passing once the desecration of his portal had passed. Nothing he knew of, no pain in the entire world he could imagine measured up to the hell of having someone else inside of his body and destroying it.

"I-I have something to tell you," Dan hissed out, watching as Stephen carefully walked towards him with the end of the pole against the ground, "It's about Hosuh."

That made Stephen pause, eyes widening just a fraction. 

"He was kissing the class rep in the ready room."

Stephen's jaw clenched, glare intensifying. The apoplectic rage was overwhelmingly evident, venom in his words as he hissed out a reply.

" **_Actually_ ** _ , Dan, why don't you tell the truth? _ "

Dan wanted to say that Hosuh had cheated. He wanted to say that he had acted out of spite. But he couldn't, as if his tongue was held whilst he blocked the next attack in the form of a strike from the metal pole. The vibrations caused a tingling sensation along the shield's entire length, burning into his arm with a shocking pain as he blocked blow after blow. So this was what if felt like, having his own quirk used against him. Huh.

"He was-! The class rep forced him to do it!" He gritted through his teeth, tasting blood as the pins and needles only spread up to his head when he attempted to summon something to protect himself with. A tank, per se. "He used his quirk on Hosuh to get to you!"

The purple energy swirled above the two of them, growing wider and wider as he focused his energy on the tank he wanted to protect himself with. It would at least provide him some cover. 

"If that's true, then he's a fucking dead man when this is over, Dan!" 

A strike, harder than the ones before it, broke his shield and caused it to detach from its leather armbands, sending it skirting along the ground and out of bounds. He dropped the pipe and pulled Dan up by his shirt, landing a swift right hook against his face. 

"Did you fucking stop him?! Did you do anything to help Hosuh?!" He yelled in a rage as blood was drawn, "Or did you run away like a goddamn coward instead of helping? You wanna be a hero, then do something dammit!"

Just before his fist was to make contact once more, the pins and needles feeling in the back of Dan's head bloomed into a sharp stabbing pain, tearing its way through his body as he jolted. His body started seizing, rapid twitches and painful movements until nothing was left. The horn blared a victory fanfare; Stephen had won. His vision swum as he looked around, finding that he'd fallen and fell out of the boundary line. The pain quickly faded as the auras returned to their proper users, all the swelling and injuries from the rapid punches disappearing into nothingness. Yes, Stephen could win the match with their quirks swapped.

With a wave of his hand, Stephen dismissed the portal and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms down at Dan.

"What the hell were you thinking, trying to summon a freaking tank? That would kill you." 

"Wha...?"

"Shut up, Dan. Just go the hell to sleep and let the nurse take a look at you." 

That... sounded nice. While he wasn't particularly comfortable, nor pained any longer, his entire body felt exhausted. As if he'd been on the longest run of his life, every muscle screaming at him to give in.

So he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh: Greyscale. He can control anything on the greyscale, from pitch black to pure white, but the bigger the object and more he has to focus on it, the worse side effects he gets.  
> Anne: Glitter summoning/light refraction.  
> Stephen: Weapon summoning and control.  
> Dan: Game Master. When he says the keywords, "By The Way", he can continue with any scenario he pleases. This is a power that relies on his mental strength, manipulating the perception of whoever hears the words even if it's intended for someone in particular. It drains his energy to keep up the scenario, so he only does one or two per day.   
> Joe: Wiggler Spawning. When he touches the ground, he can summon up to five initial wigglers that pop out of the ground. Upon being destroyed, they release a spore which will spawn even more of them, essentially creating an insectoid hive. However, he feels all the pain they have to go through.  
> Jay: Flames of Apathy. The less he feels, the stronger his flames are. These flames also create a sense of apathy in all those who come into contact with them or are exposed to them for a period of time. Jay, naturally, is unaffected by their heat and doesn't get burns from it, but it does raise his body temperature.
> 
> Fun fact: When someone else uses Dan's quirk, their keyword/s phrase changes. As seen by Stephen in this chapter. Stephen's is "Actually", Hosuh's is "What if" and I haven't figured out the other's so if you have any ideas, let me know!


	7. Fall for me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost at the end! I just wanna warn everyone, this chapter is a little heavier than the others, so be careful!

Hosuh wasn't awake by the time the second semi-finals match was over like the nurse promised he would be. The nurse assured them that he was just sleeping, his brain patterns weren't conclusive with being comatose, after the massive amount of energy he used up while fighting. Jay, on the other hand, was already out of there due to her healing quirk. He was confused at first, wondering just what the hell Hosuh had used against him in their fight. The nature of Hosuh's quirk was explained to him, as well as the many, many drawbacks.

There was one time when they were children that Hosuh had figured out he could use his power to control someone's body, and the thought terrified him. He'd forced his mother to her knees and afterward, the crying had begun. The idea of having power over someone made him want to be sick, want to curl into a ball and cry until he couldn't cry any longer.

The same couldn't be said about Jay or Stephen, he knew that much. Those two relished in the power over other human beings, one of the many reasons they worked well together, but they didn't know what to do in this situation. 

So they waited. And waited. For half an hour of silence as the teachers announced a short break before the final round so they could fix the banisters. 

Well, they'd planned on waiting in silence. Until they opened the door to the ready room and Stephen made eye contact with the class representative of class C. His blood began to boil, a portal opening up above him as he drew out a short, jagged blade. The band on his wrist beeped at him in warning, warning of the dangerous object he'd summoned as it recorded all of his quirk's activity. But he didn't care. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Jay asked, staring at the knife in his friend's shaking hands.

"That bastard... He kissed Hosuh. Without his fucking consent!" Stephen growled out, and Jay took a step back. 

"Go off, man. Don't let me stop you from kicking his ass. No knives though."

"Ugh, fine." He dropped the knife onto the floor, watching the man jolt at the satisfying clatter. "He'll survive."

It was more satisfying than it should be, watching Stephen deliver punch after punch to the man. He knew about the man's quirk, having summoned chainmail gloves to keep his quirk from activating. Revenge was a dish best served with pain, screaming and agonizing pain delivered without witnesses who would tattle tale. Surely the man deserved it, at least in the minds of the two hero hopefuls. 

And if Elias walked in after twenty minutes, he didn't tell the administration. Only directing the man to go to the nurse so he could speak with Jay and Stephen. He scampered up, wiping the blood from his face, and ran out with a yell.

"Why'd you stop that, Elias?" Stephen asked, glaring at the older man. "He deserved it."

"Oh, yeah he does. But that isn't what we're here for. The teachers have given me a list of new things you'll be allowed to use in your final fight," 

Both teenagers seemed mildly surprised by the news. Stephen hadn't gotten an update in almost two years, as they didn't want him to get too full of himself or too powerful in case of being kidnapped by villains. He distantly recalled when it happened to a student at a summer training camp, and shrugged off the idea with the notion that he and Jay could beat any villain which came their way.

He had time to think as Elias hooked up his info pad to Stephen's inhibitor, knowing he wouldn't be allowed to use his quirk during the update, and wouldn't be briefed on what he was allowed to use while it was undergoing the upgrade. So he began to speculate.

In the past fifteen years, people's quirks had been getting exponentially more powerful than when the abilities first appeared. On the news yesterday, there was a record of someone who created massive explosions when overwhelmed as their first quirk's presentation, and he hadn't even flinched when the child was killed. A danger to society, a merciless weapon. It was illegal to use quirk removal drugs, but it was somehow more legal to kill the problem before it got too big. There was one thing everyone who had a powerful quirk knew well; you were only allowed to live if you could keep it under control. The second you lost control, became truly dangerous, then you'd be executed for public safety or shipped off to an experimental unit for testing until you could. 

His sister had been shipped off before he was even born. She'd been able to summon physical manifestations of constellations, which only got stronger at night. There were photos of her running around with a little bear creature in the daytime, only for it to become the size of an elephant in the darkness. People feared power, even if it wasn't truly a problem, and he'd heard about it straight from her lips. 

She didn't use her quirk anymore. She refused to even look up at the night sky. 

And when Stephen had presented with his quirk, she'd cried. His whole family had cried, fearing that he would be shipped off as well. But then, as Gavin reached the age of six, he'd not come forth with a quirk, and they were all relieved. 

People who wanted powerful quirks didn't understand. They never would. But those same people would have stronger and stronger children as the generations progressed until they reached the point where you either had world-ending strength or absolutely nothing. When would that day arrive? Jay gave an estimate of ten more years if that. Stephen guessed twenty. They both knew what would happen should that day come, as would their children and all their siblings. 

The world would be reset. Everyone with a superpower would be killed and they'd return to the days of torment, where quirked people were the minority and hunted for fear of their abilities. Slaughtered senselessly for what they could do. Whenever someone said they wished for a powerful quirk, that day came ever closer. People feared the unknown, and then once they understood it, they wanted power until it overcame them and needed to be stopped so things could return to  _ normal _ . Wash, rinse, repeat throughout history. 

Planet Earth would be ruled by people who were afraid and killed to protect that fear in only a few centuries. One could say they were crazy for thinking that way, but it was the unfortunate reality of their situation. How could they go about life, living their everyday lives when they knew what was coming? 

Stephen knew what quirks Hosuh's parents had. His mother could only see in greyscale, she'd lost the ability to see colors when she came into her quirk, but it made her good at seeing minor changes in things. His father could manipulate any mud-like substance, and so he took up pottery as a hobby. Combined, they made Hosuh. Manipulation of the greyscale. Two average powers creating a crazy power. There was no way, when things like this happened every day, that this would be allowed to continue for much longer.

When Stephen first realized that at the age of nine, that was when the urge to hurt people began. When he found pleasure in watching people be desecrated by villains, he found himself copying them in secret. Then he'd found out that fighter heroes got to hurt people every day, but they were within their legal rights to. Some may say it was selfish, wanting to hurt people and becoming a hero as a result. And maybe they were right. But it never bothered Stephen all that much, thinking of how messed up he could be. At least he was actually doing something with his power. 

If he got the ability to, he wanted to know what happened inside those facilities they shipped people who were too strong for them to handle. 

He glanced to his side at Jay, the fire used absentmindedly swirling patterns in the air with his flames. They'd only known one another for a matter of months, but there was a mutual understanding between the two of them as soon as they'd seen what the other could do. 

Survival.

Keep each other in line. Don't go too far. When the strong were the ones in more danger than the weak, they could only lash out in their few numbers for so long until they were forced into submission by overwhelming numbers. Now, they'd gained a new ally, and it increased their chances. 

The average man didn't understand why the laws against using people's quirks were unfair. For people like Anne and Joe, hell even Elias, it was often overlooked in their everyday uses, but that was because they could be useful. If it wasn't useful, they would be restrained. They probably didn't even know that if Stephen were to try to take his inhibitor off by himself, it would send a shock through his body strong enough to paralyze him for life. If he tried to get someone else without a key to do it, it would explode. 

Jay had one. It measured the temperature of his flames and if it got too hot, it shocked him mildly to make him angry. It sat in a thin band around his right wrist, a warning to everyone nearby. He was dangerous. He was a monster.

They were slaves.

And Hosuh was going to be one too, now that they'd seen what he could do. His drawbacks were so severe that he likely wouldn't even use it, but there was always the chance that he could. So they were going to put one on him too. It monitored their every movement, every thought. Every intrusive thought of  _ what if I hurt someone? _ was recorded and sent off to some government facility. 

A tiger, a fox, and a rabbit. Three slaves to society's rules with no way out. Well, there was going to be a way out, out of the inhumane treatment they received. It started with the hero course. Instill fear. Watch them overcome once you've become useful. Master the power and you're accepted into their world. If it were just for themselves, it wouldn't be so bad. One thought and suddenly the whole sector would be up in flames, but it wasn't just them. There were hundreds of kids all over the world in similar situations, and there was no way Stephen or Jay were going to stand for that crap.

They weren't going to be society's pets. 

As he watched the update progress reach ninety percent, displayed on Elias' info pad, he wondered what would become of Hosuh. If they tried to hurt him, they'd end up on the wrong side of every exploit he could find in the weapons rule, and they knew it. There was no remote to blow it up, so they could only react to him instead of strike preemptively. Most likely, Hosuh would be transferred to the hero course so they could keep all the problem children together and watch them without issue. 

There was a small part of him that wanted to scream at the pain his partner would endure. A bigger part of him wanted to keep Hosuh close, despite how much he knew the other would hate it. Hosuh never wanted to be a hero, he'd said as much on many occasions.

Well, that chance would be stripped from him. From the moment their quirks came to light to the masses, their life was plotted out. 

If their quirks were powerful enough, there was a chance that they'd be advised to never have children. He'd heard about therapy which was designed to convince people like him or Jay that they didn't want children, didn't want to get any girlfriend pregnant even if they absolutely did. Some would use their own quirks to put those thoughts in their heads. Luckily for the two of them, they both had their eyes on people who could never give birth. 

Even if they did have children, they’d likely be lied to by the people putting their inhibitors on, and their parents banned from telling them the real reason. That they were dangerous. That they were monsters. That they were the villains in every single storybook throughout history; someone with power against those who couldn’t compare. He’d been told they wanted to monitor his health, to watch his mental state because  _ people might bully him for his power. _ But it was all lies. And he knew it. But if he tried to say it then the inhibitor would shock him.

There was a loud beeping noise, snapping him out of his thoughts as he looked at the info pad again. The update was done, it seemed. 

"And that's that. Seems that Hosuh woke up while we were waiting, so I'll make this brief." Elias didn't miss the way both teenagers looked up at him expectantly, though Stephen's was with some hope and worry about his partner. "This update will allow you the use of minor explosives and non-lethal bombs, such as flash grenades or smoke bombs. There will be no usage of mustard gas and you still don't have access to your average grenade, but cherry bombs and underpowered grenades are allowed. You also have access to specialized weapons such as tasers and electrified wires, so long as the voltage does not exceed one hundred and fifty. Oh, you've also gained pepper spray."

"So basically, I can use explosives now? Sweet!" Stephen exclaimed as Elias removed the cord, restarting the inhibitor. It buzzed lightly as it came back online, putting pressure over the veins in his wrist, but he didn't care. It meant he was free. For a brief moment, in between the activation and it's full coming online when it became like a second skin, he was without limitations from the world. It protected him from himself, without the chains binding him down.

And then it was over. He was a slave again. At that moment, the slave's job was to fight, to show that he could be good. That he could win. That he could be useful. Even if he understood how bullshit it was, understood why things were the way they were, he still had to act. To be their puppet for just a little longer. If they wanted a fighter, he'd give them a fight that would make even the Romans envious, as if the arena were his own personal colosseum. Because that would mean he would get to stick around for a little while longer. 

"You ready to fight Hosuh?" Jay asked, staring over at him with tightly shut eyes. 

"Hell yeah, I am! I mean, I'm not gonna kill him, so it's gonna be fine. I'll make this quick and kick his ass."

The two of them laughed to one another, commiserating in their own state. They'd, of course, assumed it would be the two of them in the finals. But this? This was almost better. All he had to do was beat his boyfriend in a fight when he was in a weakened state from having recently woken up. There was almost no way he could lose this, from his estimates. And Hosuh, to the best of his knowledge, would never throw the fight as Bob had, so there would be an actual final round. 

It was time to show him what it was like to play with the heavy hitters.

* * *

Hosuh didn't know how he was supposed to feel when he woke up. First, there was an unbearable pressure on his neck, and when he reached up to see what it was, he got shocked. He'd asked the nurse and she told him it was an inhibitor, something to help keep his quirk under control. He got a good look at it in the mirror and recognized what it was, a black band with silver wiring along the top to show it's circuitry. The same as Stephen and Jay's. Why did they feel the need to do this? He wasn't dangerous. They weren't dangerous.

The institution of inhibitors was a recent event, he recalled from history class. They were used to keep dangerous villains from breaking out of high-class facilities.

So why did he need one? Why did Stephen and Jay need one? What was the point?

He had so many questions, and there were no answers to them he could ascertain. Absolutely nothing even came to mind about why someone would think he would need one, not when their quirks were recorded for all the world to see, they knew what he could do. Perhaps they didn't think he'd actually use it, was that the difference?

"You should get going, child, your final match is about to begin." The young woman sighed. Apparently, her mother had been the previous nurse at UA, and she took on many of her mannerisms. Including calling everyone younger than her a child when speaking to them.

"Huh? Final match?" 

"Yes. You knocked Mister Ko straight out of the arena, so you made it to the finals."

"W-Who's my opponent?"

"Mister Ng." 

Great. Just great. First, he woke up in the nurse's office, with a strange inhibitor on and no one would tell him why he had one, then he couldn't even get it off, and now he had to fight his boyfriend in front of half the country?! Just. Freaking. Great. To say that Hosuh was annoyed would be an understatement, possibly the biggest of the century. 

What use would they get out of putting an inhibitor on him, anyway? He could barely use his quirk beyond drawing without getting sick. Hosuh wasn't someone who got angry easily, but the violation of his freedom was something that angered him beyond measure. A large part of him wanted to cry and scream, while the rest wanted nothing more than to curl up in his boyfriend's arms and commiserate. Was this how he and Jay felt all the time? He'd barely had it on for ten minutes and he felt like he was going crazy. 

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. His teacher had come to sign him out of the nurse's station, wearing her usual bright smile.

"Ms. Shirotoko?" He asked after a minute of silence, "Why do I need this inhibitor? I'm not going to hurt anyone."

"Oh! We know that silly," She said with a giggle, "It's to monitor your health! Based on how this next fight will go, the school board will decide if you need one for the dangerous potential of your quirk." 

That was the first straight answer he'd gotten about it, and it was likely the last he would get. He couldn't make himself a big target, but he couldn't give in too easily.

He didn't want to fight anymore. He especially didn't want to fight Stephen. No one would want to fight against their boyfriend, especially not in front of so many people. But now he had to, and he wasn't feeling his best. Everything was still a little dizzy, but not near as bad as it was earlier that day. His teacher walked him all the way to the gate after checking him over and making sure he was alright, that he wasn't going to pass out, and told him that he could fight as hard as he wanted to.

There was no way she knew what was about to go down. 

_ "Are you all ready for the final match? Well, are ya?! Get ready, folks! We have Stephen Ng, the purple prince of class A! And we have Hosuh Lee, the gray artist of class C! From what I hear, we should expect a little bit of flirting during this fight, so enjoy the show!" _ The announcer had changed, Hosuh noted as he stepped into the rebuilt arena. Stephen had raised his hand up at the announcer's booth, his middle finger extended in rebuttal to their comment about their relationship.

"Feeling alright, Hos?" He asked, though his expressionless tone made Hosuh's anxiety spike. Had he done something wrong? Was Stephen angry at him?

"Better than before," He said softly as a response, "I just wanna get this over with."

"That inhibitor doesn't look too comfortable." 

"It's not. Why do we even need these?"

Stephen flinched where he stood, blank stare darkening. He wasn't responding, not even opening his mouth to try to do so at the question.

"Stephen?"

"Before the match begins, I just wanna say, I fucking love you."

Hosuh's cheeks burned in embarrassment, looking around at the thousands of people in the arena, and took a deep breath. Now or never.

"I love you too."

_ "Let the final match BEGIN!" _

The first thing that Hosuh did was force the concrete up. It shook as the arena defied gravity, large chunks breaking off towards the ground in a cloud of dust.

"Oh? So you're gonna be like that, huh?!" Stephen exclaimed, producing a wooden shield and hopping up onto it. Hosuh was mildly surprised to see that it could support his weight, especially as they both floated up into the air, "Then bring it on!"

The boundary lines had crumbled from the force of gravity, making it impossible to tell if they'd left the range, and before he could even think of rushing against his boyfriend, there was a sudden explosion in Hosuh's face. A burst of light came forth, making him lose his footing on his little piece of concrete hovering above the ground. They were reaching about fifteen feet off the earth, with Stephen not even bothered by the idea of the heights. Maybe this wasn't Hosuh's finest idea, he realized as black spots edged his vision.

"C'mon, I know you can fight back!" Stephen exclaimed, "There's no way they'd put an inhibitor on you if you couldn't!"

"What're you talking about?!" 

"Think about it!" 

Hosuh didn't want to think about it. He wanted this to be over and done with so he could sit in his dorm room and cuddle with the person he currently called his opponent. He stared down at the ground, focusing on the chunks and shards as he raised them up into the air around him. Stephen didn't even care, filling his hands with miniature explosives before loading them into... Was that a pellet gun? 

Stephen fired his first shot and blasted the rocks apart on impact, causing it to careen down towards the crowd. Hosuh caught it with a burst of energy, his stomach turning at the effort to keep it from hurting anyone, as he listened to three more explosions and felt their energies falling from his control. The more things he needed to focus on, the faster his drawbacks overtook him, and he guessed that Stephen had figured that out. 

He wanted to force the pieces together, to create a boulder to keep his focus on a few things as possible. The second that he attempted to move the shards, however, a shock came to him as he exclaimed in confusion. Stephen's eyes widened, reaching out towards his partner.

"I don't know what the hell you just tried to do, but don't fucking do it, Hosuh! It's not worth it!" 

His chest tightened, the vice grip on his lungs tighter than it had been before as the world crumbled around him in an explosion of power. The very arena itself trembled, inhibitor overloading and smoking as he screamed. As if something had him in their hold, biting down into his heart and stealing his breath, he found himself unable to control his quirk.

The very foundation of the building, steel and iron in make, gave in to his will at his thought. Stay afloat. Stay up. Don't fall. It uplifted itself, ripping from the ground as everyone screamed around them. People were panicking, unsure of themselves and their safety. What was going on? Why was everyone screaming? The burning around his neck jolted him into overdrive, far more things affected than he wanted to, shaking as he found himself unable to take in air. Everything was becoming blurred, he was going to fall-!

Warm arms wrapped around him, soft skin against his own as a voice he knew oh so well came in close with a whisper into his ear.

"You can fall, Hos. Stephen's got you." 

There was a crash as he released his power, forcing himself to stop his quirk. He trusted Stephen explicitly. He always had and he always would. Now there was another problem, with the shield being unable to hold both of their weight, or so Hosuh thought. There was suddenly a net beneath him, supporting him as much as Stephen's hold did. The whispering continued, comforting soft words keeping him grounded in reality even as the heroes gathered in around him.

"They'll have to go through me if they want to get you, Hosuh. I'm not going to let them take you."

Why would someone want to take him? What had he done? He hadn't hurt anyone, there were no crimes, why would they need to take him away? So many questions made themselves known, but there was one thing which he knew for sure. He'd lost the last round. And he was okay with that.

Distantly, he heard a loud bang, similar to that of a gunshot, before blackness enveloped both teenagers and bitter cold screamed its way through their bodies. But Stephen wouldn't let go of Hosuh. He refused to, be it to heroes or quirks or whatever it may be which tried to force him away. 

They weren't going to be slaves to these people and their fears anymore. Not if he had anything to say about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooow that was dark. I'm sorry if the fight scene is a little short or bad, fight scenes aren't my forte. Never have been and never will be. Let me know how I did/what you think?


	8. Looking towards the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, here we are. The last chapter. I was so sad while writing this, because I absolutely adore this AU. I hope I've done this AU justice, it has made me so happy to think of all the possibilities for this one fic, it means the world to me. I hope you all enjoy.

Nothing could have prepared them for the outcome of the tournament. Everyone knew Stephen would win the fight, but the price they'd paid for it had been far too steep. Hosuh had been deemed a dangerous threat as a result of the epidemic, too much for the inhibitor to handle without proper attunement. But attunement was supposed to be done since they were children, so now Hosuh was confined to his dorm room while the school board deliberated on his fate. Stephen sat in the room with him, holding his hand as his boyfriend slept. They'd given him some form of narcotic to keep him unconscious until they came to a conclusion about his fate.

A knock came from the door, and Stephen didn't look away from Hosuh's sleeping face as he called out.

"Come in, it's not locked," He said tiredly, ready to stop whoever it was that had come to call this time. He'd already blockaded the door several times against rogue heroes who thought it was their civic duty to murder Hosuh because of the danger level, and he'd listened to his friends talk while watching over them in turn so he could get some sleep, sometimes a shower. It had been around two days since the deliberation began, with no end in sight.

The door creaked as it opened, a young kid with a shock of blue hair running in and wrapping his arms around Stephen's waist. "Bro! You haven't been answering your phone!" 

"Gavin?! What the heck are you doing here?" He asked his little brother, using his free hand to give him a hug in return. 

"My class is taking a tour of the high school, so I asked if I could go find you- Well, actually, a few of the kids were picking on me and this hero came in and made them stop, but I asked if I could go to my brother- He said yes! So he escorted me here!" 

"Uh, okay? Which hero? There's a bunch here." 

"You're not gonna believe this, Stephen, but-"

Gavin didn't get to finish. A man with unruly blonde hair and a fragile-looking frame stood in the doorway, a smile on his aged face and warmth in his dark eyes. He was speaking with the guard, who had been stationed to alert the school board in the case of Hosuh's quirk going haywire whilst he was asleep. There was no chance of that happening, they all knew it, but precautions were precautions for a reason. 

Stephen never heard what Gavin said next, the ringing in his ears too loud as he recognized the man in the doorway. He'd watched his broadcasts for years, been watching the day he'd fought a fierce villain and this form was revealed to the world. What in the world was important enough that  _ he _ would need to come? Was Hosuh going to be taken away?

If that were the case, then Stephen was ready to fight.

"Bro? Is something wrong? Stephen?" Gavin said, interrupting his thoughts, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just thinking." He mumbled under his breath, keeping his eyes on the man speaking with the guard. The guard was leaving, then, and everything slowed down as the ex hero turned to him.

"Ah, you must be young Ng. Congratulations on your victory," He smiled towards him, "And to young Lee, as well."

"What the hell do you want?" Stephen asked, pulling Gavin closer to himself and stepping in front of Hosuh, "Are you here to take Hosuh away? Or are you gonna execute him?"

"What?"

Ignoring Gavin, the man shook his head.

"No, I'm not here to do either of those. In fact, I'm here to give you both good news. He'll be freed of his inhibitor under a few special circumstances," 

"And what are those circumstances?" 

"He'll be required to participate in quirk training at least once a week, over the weekend, and he will be required to disclose all information about his quirk in as explicit detail as he can to the school board."

"Is that it? Just those two?"

"Not exactly, Young Ng. Please let me finish. Young lee, along with you and Young Ko, will be required to go to I-Island to undergo basic quirk testing before the summer training camp, and you will need to undergo such a thing every year from here out. After then, your cases for your inhibitors will be reevaluated, and then you will be permitted more freedoms depending on how well you all do."

"So, basically, we're going to be lab rats for the government?"

"Bro, what the heck?"

"Shut up Gavin." 

"Essentially, you'll be under watch until they can confirm that you will not be a danger to the people around you. One of my students used to be in a similar situation, and it's not so uncommon."

As much as Stephen didn't want to believe it, he couldn't deny that he wanted it to be true. He didn't want to be a slave to the people's fears, but the idea that he needed to prove himself to them to show that he wouldn't outright murder them for his own gain, not when there was a tangible person who would actually be dying. Scenarios were fine, for all he cared. There were days where he had no idea what to do with the power at his fingertips, no idea how to handle buzzing, screaming thrum of energy underneath his skin. Everyone with a quirk had days like that. But they didn't need to worry about being killed for it.

And now he was being given the opportunity to ensure that it didn't happen to anyone else he cared about. 

Because Hosuh wasn't dangerous. So he allowed the man to come closer with the unlock key to Hosuh's inhibitor, a small metal circle with a tiny tine on it which spiraled around. It fit perfectly into the empty space and it fell apart, though he set it down on the nightstand. They couldn’t change the world today, but the small victory that they were letting Hosuh out of the inhibitor was a blessing. Tomorrow, well, that was another story.

"Keep this nearby in case any guards or other heroes want to check on him. Now, we should be getting your younger brother back to his class."

"What? No, I don't wanna go back yet-!"

"Class is important." The man and Stephen said, which made the man laugh and Stephen agitated, though he brushed it off easily.

"Besides, we can show your classmates that if they wanna mess with you, they're gonna have to go through Stephen first." 

The grin he received from his younger brother was worth leaving Hosuh alone for an hour, especially so when he got to watch a group of twenty kids actively scream when they realized just who he was. No one picked on Gavin for being quirkless after that, not with his elder brother having won the sports festival. Explaining to Hosuh what happened while he was asleep was a real pain, one that he would rather not relive, but it was also worth it to see the understanding in his boyfriend's eyes and the sweet kiss they had after. 

Even when Dan, Anne, Joe, and Jay burst into the small dorm room, the first three loudly exclaiming their worry over the decision which had been made. No formal papers or announcements were released, only Hosuh's close friends even knew they'd finally made a choice, but it was worth it. As sad and angry as it made him when he saw the people, the heroes, who demanded that he wear an inhibitor for his overly dangerous quirk, he found a new way to put a spin on it to make everyone laugh. 

They only need to remind themselves that these people, trained adults, were lashing out in fear at a rabbit whom they perceived to be a tiger. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that's it! That's the whole fic! I hope you all enjoyed it. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster, and a few twists and turns that were hard to expect. Thank you so, so much for reading, you have no idea how much it means to me.


End file.
